The Wiser Hand
by Jessica Fordham Kidd
I’m lying in bed
watching my fingers in the mirror.
They are long, animal
appendages and completely
unfamiliar to me.
I move them in and out of shadow.
They become angled, flipper-like,
twigs of trees, paws,
and a creature independent of my body.
This body. My illusion of unity
so charming. My fingers
smile a thin smile
at my naivety.
In the night, my strange hand
with its unexpected edges
flits around the universe
picking at the seams that hold me
to one place.
They worry the straig